David Cay Johnston on Trump's lying, crazy, self-absorbed weekend

[turbinetree]

Published 1 min ago
on October 28, 2019

By David Cay Johnston, DC Report @ Raw Story
- Commentary

That Donald Trump is manifestly unfit to be president, and cannot be trusted with national security secrets, was on full display Sunday morning.

What should have been a simple but triumphant announcement on the death of a dangerous man, the ideological leader of ISIS, became a display of Trump’s sick mind. It also showed that Trump’s claims to have defeated ISIS are nonsense.

During the announcement, Trump lied repeatedly because that is just what he does. He didn’t even tell Americans that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi committed suicide, killing three children as well, before he could be assassinated. Instead, Trump created the false impression that American forces killed al-Baghdadi, saying it was “something really amazing to see…as though you were watching a movie.”

Trump thanked foreign governments, notably Russia, before he thanked American forces.

Trump is so obsessed with celebrity he discussed the death of al-Baghdadi in Page Six gossip column terms, using his ignorance as a reference point and trying to diminish the success of President Barack Obama’s administration in hunting down and killing Osama bin Laden in 2011.

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/david-cay-johnston-on-trumps-lying-crazy-self-absorbed-weekend/

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. Johnston KNOWS what he is talking about....

When this man speaks, people listen.

[crickets]

2. Well written and informative until the heavy handed chastisement at the end.

The article was colorfully written and obviously not favorable to Trump, but it kept to the facts and allowed quoted sources to provide much of the analysis. It was jarring to see a news story veer so quickly into an opinion piece for the last paragraph which, other than mentioning Trump, had nothing to do with the prior topic.

[turbinetree]

3. agreed......................

[FakeNoose]

4. That last paragraph may not have been written by Johnston

I agree with you, it seems gratuitous and doesn't flow with the rest of the article. Maybe some hack junior editor threw it in without informing Mr. Johnston. Who knows?

[DavidCayJohnston]

5. from David Cay Johnston

I wrote it.

When my column goes up shortly at DCReport (RawStory publishes us 24 hours early) you will see I have revised the end of my column to make my point with more nuance since, clearly, many people took umbrage when my intent was to prompt careful reflection.

https://www.dcreport.org/2019/10/29/trumps-lying-crazy-self-absorbed-weekend/

[Maeve]

8. Thank you, Mr Johnston

Your work is appreciated here and it is always good to know when writers take feedback and use it to clarify!

[Poiuyt]

9. Welcome to DU!

[AwakeAtLast]

11. I did not realize you were on DU!

Glad you are here! I

[crickets]

12. Thank you, Mr. Johnston

It's (sadly) a little unusual to see such a positive and constructive response to feedback. Good on you, sir. The addition of more context and nuance to your closing thoughts is greatly appreciated. I think that your intent to prompt more careful reflection has been successful.

I also humbly admit that I missed the 'opinion' label at the top and stand corrected. Perhaps my mistake was in part because your opinion column is filled with more facts and well sourced information than many 'news' reports on the same topics.

Definitely looking forward to more of your columns in the future.

[gratuitous]

6. The only thing missing from Trump's revenge porn fantasies

There should have been a woman somewhere in his narrative, bound and gagged in the trunk of a car. Maybe Trump's saving that for later.

[bdamomma]

7. this says it all right there.

Trump thanked foreign governments, notably Russia, before he thanked American forces.


All roads point to Russia. Huh?

[UTUSN]

10. K&R